The AK47, and the more commonly encountered AKM, while indeed rugged, do jam. Most opinions to the contrary are taken from films or dubious secondhand knowledge.

The AK has aged far more gracefully (largely due to its purpose of cheaply arming a huge number of people with a weapon that they could figure out despite poor training) than most other Soviet military tech. The vast majority of it is painfully outmoded, often to the point of uselessness.

Hahahahahahahahahaha.... no. Books, films, games, ignorant journalists, and fobbits greatly exaggerate the problems. As long as a soldier has a modicum of training and common sense, they're not going to have a problem. With some of the more recent guns we've got to play with, even those requirements all but disappear.

Agreed. Unfortunately the media (books, films, journalists as you stated) has to criticize the military for some reason. The M16, for example has been in use for 40+ years (albeit upgraded) because it's an effective rifle.

The following is mostly an educated guess on my part. Just going to go ahead and say that.
As far as troops on the ground in Libya goes, it's obvious to me that some country has to have some kind Special Operations Forces on the ground. The rebels are (out of necessity) are using similar or identical vehicles and equipment to the Libyan military. Discerning who is who from the air is extremely difficult without the aid of some kind of direction from the ground. According to USA Today last week, A-10s and AC-130s have been deployed. The AC-130 in particular is an SOF support craft, which reinforces my belief that someone has boots on the ground.